Trace-carrier



A. 'J. MGGORD 86 J. F. MQGREGOR.

TRACE CARRIER. N0. 666,666. Patented Sept. 1', 1896.

wxssns, M4 7 a ncirew c 07 1' g zm gwm UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

ANDREW JACKSON MGCORD AND JOEL FLOVERS MCGREGOR, OF

' NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

TRACE-CARRIER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 566,866, dated September 1, 1896. Application filed June 15, 1896. Serial No. 595,545. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ANDREW J AOKSGN 11c- GoRn and J OEL FLOWERS MoGREooR, citizens of the United States, residing at Nashville, in the county of Davidson and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Trace-Carriers; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is a front side view of a trace-carrier according to our invention. Fig. 11 is a view looking at the right-hand end of the same, and Fig. III is a view looking at the lower edge thereof.

This invention relates to that class of devices by means of which that portion of a horses harness called the trace is supported midway upon the back-band, and its object is to provide means whereby a trace chain may be readily inserted through a supporting-loop of the trace-carrier and then be supported in substantially a horizontal position in such a manner that the link of the chain which engages the carrier will not be worked loose therefrom in service, and so that when the rear end of the trace-chain is unfastened and permitted to hang freely from the carrier the particular link engaging the carrier will not be pulled down from its horizontal position, and so there will never be any danger of the chain becoming kinked in the carrier, and so that the link cannot in any way be forced to dig against the horse.

To this end our invention consists in atracecarrier comprising the integral parts hereinafter described and claimed.

5, 6, and 7 represent longitudinal bars, and 8 and 9 end bars joining the longitudinal bars. These five bars comprise the buckle portion of the trace-carrier. The middle bar 6 is provided with a series of teeth 10, projecting from its lower edge to engage the back-band 11 of the harness to support this trace-carrier.

12 represents the side portions of a loop which is in the same plane as the buckle and is made a portion of the bar 7.

13 14: 15 16 represent the hanger, of which the arm 18 depends from the side 12 in the general plane of the buckle portion. The

portion 16 rises from the opposite side 12 as a post equal in height to a little more than the thickness of the wire 17 of the chain-link which this device is adapted to carry.

15 is the other hanger-arm, depending from the outer end of the post 16 substantially parallel with the arm 13, and the lower ends of arms 13 and 15 are connected by the crosspiece 14, which slants at an angle of about forty-five degrees to the plane of the buckle portion, as shown in Fig. III.

18 represents one link of a trace-chain supported in the hanger. 19 is another link connected with the link 18 and extending forward toward the hames, (not shown,) to which such links are usually attached for draft purposes, and 20 is a portion of a link hanging from the rear end of the link 18, as though the traces were entirely slack.

By means of the teeth 10 the buckle portion may be secured at the desired height upon the back-band 11 without requiring the band to terminate at or near the buckle.

The operation is as follows: The forward end of the chain is to be put through the loop 12 toward the horse and drawn forward and secured as desired to the hames or other fastening. Then that link which will hold the back-band in the right position longitu dinally upon the horse is to be turned nearly endwise toward the horse and be passed edge- Wise down into the hanger. Then by pulling rearward upon it it will assume its normal position in a vertical plane parallel with the horse, outside of the arm 13, resting upon the cross-piece 1e behind the arm 15 and beneath the post 16, as shown by link 18.

It will be seen that the arm 15, being located in a plane outward from and forward of the arm 13, prevents the rear end of the link 18 from being pried against the side of the horse, and the forward end of that link cannot be pried against the horse, because the chain is too rigidly held by its near support at that end.

hen the rear end of the chain is slack, the link 20, hanging upon the rear end of the link 18, has a tendency to pry up the forward end, and if a horse is fretful he might get the chain kinked were it not for the post 16 crossing over the link 18 forward of its support 14.

\ aloop depending from the lower bar; ahanger depending from the loop; and a post connecting one side of the hanger with one side of the loop; one arm of the hanger depending directly from the other side of the loop and in the plane thereof and the other arm of the hanger being located forward of and outward from the said other arm and connected therewith by a slanting cross-piece substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREWV JACKSON MCCORD. JOEL FLOWERS MOGREGOR.

Witnesses:

J. J. ODIL, W. H. DONELSON. 

